


nothing good starts in a getaway car?

by happynotdignified



Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Established Relationship, F/M, Secret Relationship, not so secret anymore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:35:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26562247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happynotdignified/pseuds/happynotdignified
Summary: “What” Sybil gasped, suddenly very alert as she lifted her head from the pillow and clutched the bedsheet to her chest. Mary watched carefully as her sister took in the visitors at the door before exclaiming in horror, “How did you find us?”“Get dressed, then we’ll talk,” replied Mary trying to keep her tone cool and collected. “Edith and I will wait outside.”----Or// what if Mary and Edith had found a different scene waiting for them at The Swan Inn
Relationships: Tom Branson/Sybil Crawley
Comments: 4
Kudos: 30





	nothing good starts in a getaway car?

**Author's Note:**

> Title from 'Getaway Car' by Taylor Swift - obviously this getaway has a happier ending than the one in the song but I just love the song and couldn't think of a better title.
> 
> In this fic, Sybil and Tom married whilst she was in York - I know the lack of banns being read in Scotland is not entirely historically accurate but for the purpose of this story, let's pretend it is.

**nothing good starts in a getaway car?**

“There!” Anna suddenly exclaimed. “That’s the car, isn’t it?”

“Oh thank heavens!” Mary exhaled as Edith pulled the car up behind her father’s older one. “Anna, it might be best if you wait here.”

“Of course milady,” Anna nodded. “If you need my help, I’ll be waiting.”

“Thank you,” Edith smiled grimly as she and Mary closed the doors.

Mary looked up the building, _The Swan Inn_ , it was a fairly respectable looking building but her heart was in her throat as she feared what her sister and their chauffeur could be doing inside. It was well past closing time however, even the innkeeper would be in bed by this time so she and Edith had no choice but to furiously bang the door and wait until an answer came.

“Mary, what if –” Edith began.

Mary snapped her head around, “we don’t know what has happened yet. Please let’s not jump to any conclusions.” 

Edith nodded yet Mary could see her own fear reflected in her sister’s face and raised her hand to bang the door again when it was flung open. A middle aged man and woman stood there in their dressing gowns. Both looked taken aback at the sight of their late night visitors.

“I’m afraid we have no rooms left tonight,” the man stated in an obviously strained attempt to be polite when he’d just been woken from his sleep.

“Good, I won’t beat around the bush at this time, we don’t need a room,” Mary replied. “We are interested in a couple of your patrons.”

“Can this not wait until morning?” snapped the woman. “You do realise the time don’t you and we respect our patron’s confidentiality.”

Mary had had enough, “this inn seems like a lovely popular place to spend the night, so let me ask you this. Do you or do you not want your business ruined after its caught up in a scandal?”

The man looked horrified, “I would thank you, madam, not to insult our business!”

His wife on the other hand spoke up, “What scandal is this?”

“The car outside,” Edith spoke for the first time. “The couple who arrived in it this evening are not in a respectable position to be spending the night alone in an inn.”

“And how does this involve you?”

“That woman is our sister, so I’d thank you kindly to direct us to their room so we can sort this mess out quietly,” replied Mary growing impatient.

“Mr and Mrs Branson are on the first floor, room three,” the man eventually replied with a sigh. “Though I do now suppose, that is not their true names.”

“Quite,” Mary smiled bitterly and crossed to the staircase with Edith hot on her heels.

The door was easy to find but Mary paused slightly before barging in and looked at her sister for support.

“Edith, you know how stubborn Sybil can be and she will try to persuade us to see her side of this debacle. So if we are to have any impact on her, I hate to say this, but we are going to have to work together.”

Edith rolled her eyes, “Mary must you make everything so dramatic, I am as concerned for Sybil as you are so don’t insult me. If I didn’t support your decision I would not have driven us here.”

Mary nodded sharply before turning the handle of the door and bursting into the bedroom. The sight before her caused her stomach to drop. She had put off the worst assumptions for the entire drive but right now think of no worse situation. Around the left side of the bed there was a discarded pile of clothes and on the bed, with her head rested on the chauffeur’s bare chest, slept her sister. Mary froze, horrified not just by the obvious event that had preceded their arrival but by the absolute peaceful nature of the scene in front of her. Her thoughts briefly drifted to the night Pamuk had visited her bed and how different this domestic scene seemed when Edith let out an aghast noise from beside her causing the two in bed to shift in their sleep.

Mary quickly closed the door with enough force to cause Branson to shoot up out of his sleep, taking an obviously protective stance over Sybil while flicking the bedside light on. When his eyes met Mary’s, she expected to see defiance or guilt but instead he seemed strangely calm as he nudged Sybil awake.

“Darling, it’s the middle of the night,” she mumbled sleepily, trying to pull him back down beside her.

Tom flashed at look at Mary and Edith and replied sadly, “Sybil, dear, we have company.”

“What” Sybil gasped, suddenly very alert as she lifted her head from the pillow and clutched the bedsheet to her chest. Mary watched carefully as her sister took in the visitor at the door before exclaiming in horror, “How did you find us?”

“Get dressed, then we’ll talk,” replied Mary trying to keep her tone cool and collected. “Edith and I will wait outside.”

\----------------------

_Earlier that night_

“I still can’t quite believe it,” Sybil grinned across the room as she undid her day clothes. “We actually did it!”

Tom’s answering smile as he unbuttoned his blazer made her heart leap. Nothing on earth could make her regret her decision in this moment.

“I just hope you don’t live to regret the way in which we did,” Tom replied after a moment.

Sybil stopped in the middle of unlacing her blouse and crossed the room to sit beside him on the bed, “Tom, my darling, I choose you two years ago and I have never once regretted that decision. My only regret is that we have kept this a secret from my family but I explained it all in the letter and one day, I hope they can forgive me. But for now, I just want to spend the night in the arms of my husband with no fear that anyone could find us. I want to be able to go to sleep in your arms and wake up in them as well.”

Tom cupped her face pulling her in for a chaste kiss but Sybil was having none of it and pushed him backward onto the bed, instantly turning the embrace extremely passionate. Her hands grabbed for the buttons on his shirt whilst he skilfully untied her corset, all the while neither of them stopped kissing every inch of each other’s skin they could reach. Sybil broke away panting to pull her husband’s under shirt over his head before making quick work of his belt and trousers.

“Darling, we are in no rush, not tonight,” panted Tom heavily and Sybil felt a rush of pleasure knowing it was she who had got him in this state.

“I know,” she replied standing up and removing the last scraps of her clothing causing Tom to groan and pull her back onto the bed with him, caressing her. “But habits are hard to break after all this time sneaking around.”

“It can be like our wedding night all over again, we have time,” Tom paused in his ministrations causing Sybil to moan at the loss of contact.

“That had better be a promise, Tom Branson,” she gasped, arching her body against his hand, desperate for release.

Tom grinned cheekily from above her, “oh it’s a promise, my love.”

Afterwards, Sybil curled up against her husband, her head over his heart, completely relaxed, “I love you.”

Tom kissed her forehead, “and I you, my dear.”

“I don’t ever want to sleep alone again,” she whispered through the darkness. “Promise me this is what we’ll always be like.”

Tom lifted her chin so their eyes met and promised, “forever Sybil, forever.”

\-----------------------

As Edith closed the door behind them, she caught Sybil’s pleading look and sighed. She pulled the door tight and stood opposite Mary in the dark hallway. The tension radiating off her sister reflected how Edith was feeling. She couldn’t even begin to process what Sybil had done. Running away in the middle of the night with the chauffeur was one thing, sleeping _naked_ with him was another. There was no doubt in Edith’s mind about what Sybil had done but she simply couldn’t fathom the reasoning.

“Does she realise what she’s done?” Edith breathed through the silence at last.

Mary let out a frustrated noise somewhere between a sigh and a growl, “Of course she does! And that’s the worst of it, she doesn’t seem to mind!”

“What are we going to do?” prodded Edith, thinking of their parents sleeping peacefully at home, none the wise. How would they react when they discovered their chauffeur had ruined their youngest daughter? 

“We are taking Sybil home,” Mary replied firmly. “That is why we came and we aren’t leaving without her.”

Mary’s tone left no room for argument but Edith could see a gaping hole in this plan – Sybil. At that moment, the bedroom door swung open to reveal Branson in a defensive stance, Sybil behind him with her arms crossed defiantly.

“Let us by,” Mary demanded and Edith could practically feel the contempt radiating off the chauffeur as he stood aside to let the sisters through the door.

Sybil spoke first once the door was shut, “whatever you are doing here, you’re wasting your time. I’m not going back to Downton with you.”

“Of course you are,” Edith exclaimed. “You can’t just run off like a thief in the night!”

She noticed Sybil wince slightly and knew she’d struck a chord; it was not in Sybil’s nature to wilfully hurt anyone, especially their parents.

“We only left like this because we had no other choice,” Branson replied hotly.

Mary glared at him, “oh be quiet, Branson! You’re lucky I haven’t already contacted the police! Sybil, you didn’t have to leave at all! This is madness. I won’t pretend I don’t know what you’ve done but if you come with us now, you can put it all behind you. We won’t mention this to Mama or Papa. They will never need to know. Branson can hand in his notice in the morning and it will all be over.”

Sybil let out a derisive laugh, “Do you really not know me at all?”

“Of course we do darling and that’s why we are trying to protect you,” Edith replied.

Sybil sent her a disbelieving look, “I didn’t want you to find out like this but Tom is right, we didn’t have the option of staying in Downton any longer. We _are_ going to Liverpool and we _are_ getting a boat to Ireland in the morning. I was going to send a telegram once we arrived in Dublin and we have arranged for Papa’s car to be driven back to Downton. So no, I will not be going home with you so that you can cover up my relationship with Tom. We aren’t having some scandalous affair!”

“It certainly looks like it,” Mary retorted.

“Oh for goodness sake!” snapped Branson meeting Sybil’s eyes. Edith watched their silent conversation with interest. It reminded her of how her parents often communicated. Branson finally turned back around and sighed. “As Sybil said, once we get to Dublin, we were going to write to you. We were going to tell you that we’re married.”

Edith stared in disbelief at the couple. Looking at them now, holding hands and in their nightwear, it wasn’t hard to imagine that they were married but the actual reality of them being married was impossible. There was no way that they could have gotten married in the time since they’d left earlier that evening. She sent a sharp look to her sister who was equally speechless. This had not been the situation they’d envisioned.

“Married?” Edith questioned shakily.

“Yes,” Sybil responded smiling up at Branson despite the situation. “And we’re very happy.”

“Sybil, you left home not three hours ago, that’s impossible!” retorted Edith.

Sybil looked rather guilty but still defiant as she responded, “I’m really sorry for not telling you both before. I have always trusted you both but with this … we couldn’t tell anyone. Tom and I have been married for almost two years. We got married whilst I was in York training as a nurse, I was 21 so I didn’t need Papa’s permission and we went to Scotland were the banns don’t have to be read. I never meant to hurt you but I know you won’t understand and I love Tom and I don’t regret any of this except the secrecy. That’s why we’re going to Dublin, we have to stop the secrecy but none of you would just accept our decision.”

Mary seemed to finally find her voice, “of course we don’t understand! Sybil, you are being ridiculous! There must be some way to get out you out of this mess …”

“How dare you!” Sybil seethed, unnaturally angry, “did you listen to anything I said? I am in love with Tom, we are married, this isn’t some teenage flirtation!”

“Sybil, it’s only because I love you that I say these things; you will be cast out of society if you carry this plan through, you will be the talk of the county! Mama and Papa will be heartbroken! Papa won’t forgive you for a long time if ever, you know he’s still hoping you’ll marry Larry Grey! I mean no disrespect to Branson because I know he works hard but he can never give you the lifestyle you’re used to.”

Branson bristled, “Lady Mary we have everything planned, Sybil knows it will be a different life and believe it or not, she doesn’t mind because at least we can be together!”

“Well that makes it all acceptable I suppose!” Mary snapped.

Branson glared at her, “of course it does, love is worth it!”

Mary gave a derisive snort and was about to retort when Edith cut her off, having noticed Sybil looking between her sister and the chauffeur with distress.

“Mary, Branson,” Edith intervened “This is getting us nowhere! We need to decide how to go forward from here.”

“Easy, you both go home and we go to Liverpool in the morning,” Branson replied.

“Tom, we need to talk,” sighed Sybil, “they aren’t just going to leave.”

“No we’re not, we have to sort this out,” Mary replied having regained her composure, “I’m guessing the grounds for annulment have been breached.”

“Well and truly,” Sybil responded shortly but Edith couldn’t help but notice the smug grin the two lovers shared. She really didn’t want to know.

“I think you should come home,” Edith spoke up ignoring the glare Sybil sent her, “I’m sorry Sybil that this is the rare occasion I agree with Mary but you can’t just run off like thieves in the night. Come home and explain everything to Mama and Papa. See how they react before making any rash decisions.”

“None of this has been a rash decision,” Sybil replied earnestly. “I need you to understand that. Tom and I have been married for months and before that we didn’t rush into anything. We’ve been courting since before the war. I am not being foolish. If I was then don’t you think I would have realised in the past five years? I just want to be happy. I know you have both known heartbreak and I would hope you would not wish it on me.”

Edith felt a lump rise up in her throat. Patrick. Anthony. Patrick again. The loss she had felt; the utter emptiness she had felt upon each of her loves leaving her. No, she would not wish such pain on her beloved sister and she hoped Mary would not either. She cast a side glance at Mary who had turned to face the wall. Edith wondered who she thought of; Mary had never pretended to love Patrick although Edith was sure she had loved Matthew yet now she stood engaged to Richard Carlisle. Yes, Edith and Mary had felt loss and looking at Sybil standing with her husband, it occurred to Edith that she had never seen Sybil experience a broken heart. At least not visibly, and the reason was now clear; she had a man who loved her and was willing to break all social norms to be with her.

“Branson,” Edith finally spoke up. “I understand exactly what my sister feels for you, I can see it plain as the nose on her face. But you, I don’t know you. I need you to promise me something. I need you to promise me that no matter what obstacles come in your path, that you will love and protect my sister until the last breath leaves your body.”

Branson smiled down at his wife before looking Edith straight in the eye, “if that is all you require me to promise milady then it’s the easiest promise I have ever made.”

Edith smiled back, “I believe you. Both of you.”

Sybil let go of her husband and rushed forward pulling Edith into a tight hug, “oh thank you! Edith thank you, you’ve made me so happy!”

“I haven’t wrapped my head around this entirely, though,” Edith quickly added. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell us!”

Branson chuckled, “well, seeing how you both reacted, you can see why we didn’t.”

“I’m sorry to add this but I still do insist that you return to Downton with us and tell Mama and Papa properly. They deserve better than a telegram. And you’ll have Mary and I for moral support.”

“Will they?” Mary turned. Edith noticed her eyes looked slightly tearful as she took in Sybil and Branson.

“Please Mary,” Sybil pleaded. “If you both are there to support us, we will come back – not for long -we have a future in Dublin. But we will leave properly!”

“Alright,” Mary agreed, clearly reluctant. “I see there are not many options at this point. The law will not separate you, even if Papa tries. All I have ever wanted is for you to be happy darling.”

“I promise you that I am,” Sybil smiled, sending a loving look up at her husband.

“Thank you, milady,” Branson nodded at Edith and then Mary. Edith noted that he seemed reluctant to agree to the plan but she could only imagine he was sure enough of Sybil that he knew they would be in Dublin before long.

“Pack your things, we will wait downstairs – Anna is in the motor,” Mary instructed. “I will pay off your bill with the owner.”

“We can pay our own way,” interrupted Branson.

“Very well,” Mary nodded and turned to go outside. Edith cast a glance back at Sybil before following.

“Is everything alright, milady?” Anna asked quickly as soon as they arrived outside, Edith climbing into the driver’s seat.

Mary sighed, “worse than we expected Anna. I know you are discreet but the whole staff will know before long – Lady Sybil has married Branson behind our backs.”

“And are we leaving them here?” Anna questioned, ever diplomatic enough not to comment on the marriage.

Mary shook her head, “they have agreed to return and speak to Mama and Papa properly. After that, they want to go to Dublin.”

“At least they will come home,” Anna smiled.

Edith heard voices in the porch of the inn and saw Branson exchanging money with the innkeeper who looked particularly scandalised by the whole event. She could only hope he would keep his mouth shut about what he had witnessed in his inn this night.

“Anna, will you travel with Branson? If you don’t mind, that is,” Mary instructed. “I would rather keep an eye on Sybil but I need to know he will go back to Downton.”

“Of course, Lady Mary,” Anna agreed. “But with respect, I don’t think that will be a problem – Mr Branson is likely to go wherever Lady Sybil does.”

“Indeed,” Edith nodded as she watched Branson and her sister move their luggage over to the car. The way in which they whispered to each other, accompanied by gentle touches was intimate enough to force her to look away. Edith looked blankly at the dark road ahead of her; if only one of the Crawley sisters was to be truly happy, she decided that it was rather fitting that it be their darling Sybil.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this! I originally wrote it way back when Season 2 first aired but has been in my drafts for years. Recently I have been rewatching Downton so decided to fix it up a bit. I may write another chapter if I feel inspired!


End file.
